


It Takes A Guard (of Priwen)

by AutisticSocks



Series: Trans Geoffrey McCullum [2]
Category: Vampyr (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, Found Family, Geoffrey McCullum has ADHD, Geoffrey is just a fool and his thoughts run away with small things and turn them into catastrophe's, I basically described RSD thoughts lol, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, No one actually gets hurt, Not Beta Read, Other, Post-Canon, Trans Character, Trans Characters by Trans People, Trans Male Character, Trans Pregnancy, but Jonathan is there to make it all better, no beta we die like men, self-indulgent fic, trans Geoffrey McCullum, trans author, trans headcanon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:14:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28627845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticSocks/pseuds/AutisticSocks
Summary: " He knew for sure the first person he’d be telling was O’Connor, bless the man’s worrying heart, he deserves to know; the Guard as a whole could wait for another day. As he thought about it, he felt he wanted to wait until he was at least through all the puking before he told Jonathan, but at the same time he wanted to tell him as soon as he saw him. He’d talk to O’Connor about it first, he trusted his opinion and he’d never steer him astray, he’d know how to help him tell everyone. "ora very self-indulgent (for me) fic about a trans male Geoffrey McCullum getting pregnant and the whole Guard of Priwen basically becomes a huge family that Geoffrey never expected to actually have. Jonathan being a dad is something I think we all need in our lives as well.
Relationships: Geoffrey McCullum/Jonathan Reid
Series: Trans Geoffrey McCullum [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099853
Kudos: 14





	It Takes A Guard (of Priwen)

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter Title comes from the song Easy To Love You by Theory of a Deadman.
> 
> Characters with * by their name when they first appear are originally from BlueEyedArcher's Vampyr works.

If anyone had told Geoffrey a year ago he’d be in a long-term relationship with an Ekon, notably the strongest in all of England, he would have laughed in their face for the hysterics. If anyone had told him a year ago that he was going to fall hopelessly in love with a man he’d meet under the worst possible circumstances, he would have laughed. If anyone had told him a year ago that he was going to meet the man who could accept him as he was, scars and all, if only he do the same for him in return, he would have laughed. He wouldn’t have believed any kind of warning about where he is now; curled into Jonathan’s side, warm under the covers, and no weapon to be seen in plain view. His successors surely would have had his head if they saw him in this moment, not only trusting one of their enemy but actively loving one as well; he didn’t care about that now, not when all he could focus on was the slow rhythmic beating of his lovers heart, the feeling of strong arms wrapped around him so protectively, and the fading light through the curtains as the sunset. There was nowhere else on God’s green Earth that he’d rather be than here in this moment. Lying there with tangled limbs and waiting for Jonathan to rouse from sleep had become one of his favorite pastimes before either of their shifts started for the night; it didn’t matter how long he’d have to wait, he was happy to have the time with him. 

He sat up soon after the light from outside had completely faded, groaning as he stretched, looking back at a reluctantly waking Jonathan, “Evenin’, sleepin’ dead,” he says to the Ekon with a grin. One would think that immortality would make one less apt on sleeping in; opposite case for Reid as he was often the reason he and Geoffrey were late to things. “Yes, yes, good evening, Geoffrey,” he says groggily, sitting up only to tiredly slump against Geoffrey, who smiles and turns his head to pressa chaste kiss to the Ekon’s temple. If they could stay like this forever Geoffrey doesn’t doubt that they would, but they are adult people with things to do unfortunately. He gently shoved Jonathan off of him as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, standing and stretching again with multiple but quiet cracks sounding from his body. “Up and at’em, Jon. I’ll get the mother hen and his rat if ya don’t hurry,” he says referring to O’Connor*. Jonathan groaned and finally got out of the bed, “You make a disturbingly persuasive arrangement, I’m up.” 

They went about their usual routines of getting dressed, sharing Geoffrey’s dresser at this point with it being half Reid’s and half his clothes within it; though they did share just about everything at this point, stuck at the hip as they were. They pulled on britches, socks and shoes, buttoning each other's shirts just to be in the other's space, then they adorned their coats, Jonathan insisting on helping him put on his scarf though he didn’t need it. When they finally left the room and went downstairs, Geoffrey wasn’t surprised to see a certain second in command waiting by the door looking like a disgruntled parent, “Took you two (2) blokes long enough, thought you were rottin’ away up there.” “Oh pipe down, O’Connor. Besides, I used you and Francach* as a threat to get him up,” Geoffrey said with a grin as he exited passed the man. Jonathan gave a sheepish apologetic smile to O’Connor, following Geoffrey outside into the night. Though they went their separate ways once off the headquarters premises, neither really felt that lonely when they thought about the other as they went along with their nightly routines. Jonathan making his rounds as a doctor, occasionally helping a Priwen patrol through the night. Geoffrey making his way through Whitechapel and the West End before heading back towards headquarters. It had been a mostly quiet night, a few Skals here and there but nothing he or Priwen could handle.

He wasn’t surprised when he saw Jonathan waiting by the gates of Whitechapel for him, he smiled and rolled his eyes as he walked over, “You’re a sap, Jon,” he teases and continues walking, Jonathan easily falling in line with him. They returned to the headquarters together perhaps an hour and a half before the sun was supposed to rise; an hour and a half before Reid would be out like a light, so Geoffrey always used their time together...wisely. If the hickies and bite marks that peeked out from under his scarf the following days said anything about the way they spent that little time together in private. 

\---

While Geoffrey wasn’t immune to getting sick, he didn’t get ill often, meaning any time he did come down with something of any capacity the people around him worried beyond reason, even if it didn’t worry him persay. 

“..was prob’ly just somethin’ I ate, O’Connor, quit henning me ‘bout it,” he says swatting the hands away from him where he sat on the floor in a bathroom, trash-bin in hands as he recovered from just heaving his entire lunch into the thing. O’Connor stepped back, hands raised in mock submission, “I know, Geoffrey, but you can’t blame me fo-” “For wanting to keep me healthy, I know I know. Now get outta here, I’ll be fine in a few.” O’Connor gave him a displeased but accepting look before he left him alone. He sat there in the floor, throwing up twice more in the hour he remained there before he was able to clean himself up. Admittedly he did feel better after getting it out of his system, maybe he really did just eat some bad food, wouldn’t be the first time. As he came down the stairs he was met with the henning squint of O’Connor, “I’m fine,” he insists, “It’s out of my system now, I’m fine to work.” His second just rolled his eyes and sighed, knowing he’d get nowhere with trying to convince Geoffrey to stay and rest. 

~

He wouldn’t have been worried about the upset stomach, not usually, but when it’s happened for four (4) consecutive days- albeit different times- he started to worry. He gathered a few papers from his desk and headed out without a word to anyone; though he was the leader and while he could do that, he didn’t very often unless it was serious. Tonight he made a bee-line through Whitechapel and to Dorothy’s infirmary. She knew of his “condition,” and she never treated him any differently than any other patient. The Guard owed a lot to her, he was grateful she and her infirmary had survived the epidemic and were almost thriving compared to what it had been. He passed through the metal gates and approached the door, taking a deep breath in before entering; this wasn’t something he thought he’d be here for with the feeling of hope in his chest, previous times always ending with a certainty where now he was uncertain. He made his way upstairs, knocking on the railing to alert Nurse Crane of his presence. She looks up from the basin she’s cleaning tools in and gives a polite smile, “What brings you in, Mr. McCullum?” “Not an injury, believe it or not,” he jokes, trying to settle his own nerves, sighing as he scratched the back of his neck and refusing to meet her in the eyes when she approaches. “Is everything alright?” she sounded genuinely concerned, so much like a certain doctor.

He sighs and finally looks to meet her in the eye, “I think I- I’m not certain or I wouldn’t be here, but I think I may be pregnant.” He could see the moment of recognition in her eyes, “You don’t seem as.. distressed as you have been in previous visits for this,” she led him over to the examination table, he knew this whole routine, “Any reason why that is?” He thought about it for a moment, really thought about why he wasn’t so...unnerved? As he thought about it, his mind wandered back to Jonathan, he’d always thought he’d make a great father but conception between an Ekon and human was impossible...or it’s supposed to be. He thought on how to answer for maybe five (5) minutes, enough time for Nurse Crane to do most of what she needed to do, “I- I think it’s less t’do with me and..more t’do with..who the father is.” She hummed in acknowledgement, giving a glance towards his face for him to continue speaking. “I won’t get into the details, but..he’s a much better man than I’ve been with in the past. I didn’t think kids was a possibility for us, we’ve never had the chance to talk about it exactly either. I’d like to know what he has to say about it, he’s understanding and stupidly caring so he’d prob’ly be a sap about it, Jesus Christ.” 

Ten (10) or so minutes of his rambling and her hums between them later when Geoffrey was standing up from the table as Dorothy walked over to the sink. His gaze followed her a moment, waiting for her to turn back around before motioning in the air with his hand for an answer to what he came here for. “If who you’re with is as good a man as you say, I’m sure he’ll make a wonderful father,” his breath catches in his throat, and for a moment he thinks he might cry, “Congratulations on a little miracle, I suppose.” He could pass out, from shock, joy, and fear. He goes about thanking Dorothy profusely, insistent on leaving extra shillings for her should she need them before he’s down the stairs and out the door again. The walk back to headquarters is..strange; he didn’t exactly need to rush back so he took his time, using the extra alone time to think about what he wanted to do now. 

He knew for sure the first person he’d be telling was O’Connor, bless the man’s worrying heart, he deserves to know; the Guard as a whole could wait for another day. As he thought about it, he felt he might want to wait until he was at least through all the puking before he told Jonathan, but at the same time he wanted to tell him as soon as he saw him. He’d talk to O’Connor about it first, he trusted his opinion and he’d never steer him astray, he’d know how to help him tell everyone.

When he finally got back to the headquarters he marched inside and started up the stairs to his room, yelling, “O”Connor! My office! Now!” as he went. He didn’t wait for the man to catch up, barely shut the door as he was no doubt a few steps behind him; and he was. Geoffrey sat down on his desk, arms crossed defensively over his chest, “Shut the door, we need to talk.” O’Connor did as was asked of him, even locking it, “What’s this ab-” he started as he turned around but was quickly interrupted when Geoffrey blurted out, “I’m pregnant.” The look of shock on his seconds face would have been funny under any other circumstance, and just as he was about to start worrying the man’s face shifted from sheer shock to almost excitement, contained excitement, “Did- Is that where you ran off to earlier?” Geoffrey grinned and nodded his head; there was a reason O’Connor was his second in command, and not a day goes by that he doesn’t fail to remind him why, “I went t’see Nurse Crane, yeah.” He expected more questions from the man, of course, and he deserved an explanation if he wanted one- “And y’re..how’re you feelin’ about this, Geoff?” He wasn’t sure what about the question surprised him, or why it surprised him at all, he was talking to the mother hen of Priwen after all. He didn’t have to think on the question long, sighing in a weirdly contented way, “You know me, bub. I wouldn’t be tellin’ ya otherwise.” O’Connor gave him a knowing half-smile, “Aye, I do. Which is why I asked, ya bugger,” he retorts teasingly. Geoffrey chuckles and shakes his head, “Alright, yeh, point taken. I’m.. alright with it, weirdly. I don’t have a solid opinion on what I want to do, butI think I’ll be fine either way things turn out.” 

The man gave a satisfied nod, “So ya wanna keep it, got it.” It was now Geoffrey’s turn to look at the other shocked, how the man could read between lines that weren’t even there was a skill beyond him. When he finally let the shock turn into a sort of relief as he smiled and actually laughed, “Alright, now fuck off. Tell the Captain’s if ya don’t mind. I’ll… eventually get the news to the rest of ‘em.” O’Connor gave a firm nod with a smile before leaving, closing the door behind himself. 

Geoffrey stared at the door for a moment, lost in his thoughts about what he was going to do now; with O’Connor telling the other commands, that left the rest of Priwen for him to tell and Jonathan. He knew the commands would understand why he sent O’Connor to tell him, but he felt he had an unspoken responsibility owed to the rest of Priwen about it, he had to tell them himself. What kind of leader can lead men into a fight that may be their last when he couldn’t admit things to the people he led. He owed it to Priwen to tell them, the idea of actually doing it made him want to throw up but he knew, to a degree, that Priwen would follow him no matter what, even with this. And that’s what scared him, he didn’t want to somehow fail the people who so readily trusted his judgement, their trust was everything to him and betraying that trust was something he didn’t want to do; if this is something they saw as his betrayal then he’d have to leave, he wouldn’t want to of course, but he didn’t want to give up on the little one now growing inside him. He’d rather be killed than be forced to betray them if he was honest, Priwen was his life, what he’d grown around and stood for, things might change but he would never betray them- not willingly, at least--

He didn’t realize just how deep into his head he’d gone until the touch of cold hands on his jaw guiding his head pulled him back to reality, he jolted and looked dumbly up at the Ekon standing between his legs; a tender and patient expression meeting him. Without much thought he wrapped his arms around Jonathan’s mid-section and leaned into him, resting his head on his chest and taking a deep breath in as he closed his eyes; Jonathan moving his hands to rest on his shoulder and neck, his fingers running lightly against the exposed skin on his neck. How they got to this point of their lives together was far beyond Geoffrey, two (2) years ago he wouldn’t have believed something like what they had was possible. But here they were, together in each other's space, vulnerable with and trusting of each other; it was the kind of love Geoffrey never knew he needed until Jonathan swept him off his feet with it.

“Everything alright, darling?” Jonathan asks in a hushed voice; Geoffrey loved being able to hear the baritone of it in his chest. He opened his eyes just enough to look up at his face, he thought about what he wanted to say before finally asking, “You ever thought about startin’ a family, Jon?” He watched his face, trying to gauge what he should be prepared for. Jonathan’s brows furrowed slightly in confusion at the question for a moment, he pursed his lips in thought before a smile graced his features, “I’d thought about it in the past, yes. In recent years it was the last thing on my mind. I think I’d like to one day, why?” Geoffrey nodded to himself as he looked away and down towards the floor, hugging onto Jonathan tighter than he had been; he really didn’t need to be so worried about it, so..why was he? He’d seen the way Jonathan interacted with kids in communities, he knew the Ekon would be a good father regardless of what he is. He thought about it just a little harder and realized he was worried he himself wouldn’t be a good parent; he could barely remember his, and he was raised in this lifestyle. What if he couldn’t be a good parent, what if Jonathan didn’t want that with him- he was brought out of his thoughts when Jonathan moved away just to kneel in front of him and take ahold of his face again, looking every bit concerned in a way that Geoffrey felt that he didn’t deserve to have given to him, “Geoffrey, love, what ever is the matter?” His voice was soft, warm and caring as he cradled his face; it took him swiping his thumb across Geoffrey’s cheek for him to notice he’d actually started crying- hormones be damned, he did this to himself by thinking. 

He leaned into the touch on his cheek, bringing his hand up and loosely grabbing his,”I’m just a fool, Jonathan, you’ll have t’forgive me,” he chuckles, trying to settle himself down, “Would you wantin’ a family include me?” Jonathan looked shocked and..almost hurt? He quickly moved forward and enveloped Geoffrey in a hug, resting his chin on the top of his head, “Of course, Geoffrey. I hadn’t thought about starting a family until shortly after we became an item, love,” he pauses and pulls away some to look Geoffrey in the eye, “There isn’t anyone else I could see it happening with in any capacity. Of course I’d want a family with you.” He didn’t expect the Ekon’s little speech to hit him as hard as it did because as soon as he finished he started crying again. Jonathan gave a warm but sad smile, brows knitted together in concern as he hugged him again; he cradled his head to his chest with one hand, the other rubbing slow motions along his back. Geoffrey didn’t think he deserved someone so patient and understanding after the life he’s led, but then again..after the life he’s led, it’s the breath of air he hadn’t known he needed so desperately.

They stayed like this for a while, Jonathan letting Geoffrey cry into him for as long as he needed, only moving away some when he finally started to calm down. Geoffrey looked at the Ekon before him, the Ekon who gave too much and still had more to give, the Ekon who saved London and chose to continue an almost domestic lifestyle, the man he was willing to do anything for if it kept him by his side for just one more day. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, “Y’re probably wondering what..that..was about, aren’t ya?” Brows still knitted together in concern, Jonathan gave a small nod of his head. Geoffrey nodded his head in return, considering how he should go about this before an idea came to mind, “I don’t know how..to go about this exactly,” he started, glancing at the Ekon before continuing, “but I think your..blood sense, Ekon sight, whatever ya want to call it, that might do a better job than I can.” He finally met the other’s eyes and could see the mounting concern behind them, “Just do it. Please,” this got him the sigh of acceptance he wanted, a last concerned glance from the Ekon before he did what was asked of him. Jonathan looked at Geoffrey’s heart beat, he watched and followed where his eyes looked. 

Geoffrey saw the moment Jonathan realized what he’d vaguely been asked to look for, his eyes going wide and quickly losing that look when he used that sense as he looked up at Geoffrey’s face; it was a look of shock, but more than that there was disbelief, he could practically see the cogs turning in his brain as he tried to process the information. The speed at which Jonathan recovered from the shock could have given someone whiplash as he broke out into tears- good tears, happy tears- wrapping his arms around Geoffrey’s waist and gently pressing his head against his abdomen. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting from Jonathan when he figured out, but it wasn’t this- he wasn’t disappointed at all either. He placed his hands on Jonathan’s shoulders, smiling teary-eyed down at him; he could tell he was using his Ekon ability again without seeing his eyes from the way he let out an audible sob. When Jonathan finally looked up at him again he swore the man looked more human now even with blood tears staining his cheeks than he ever could look to a trained hunter, and he needn’t say he understood why Geoffrey had asked what he did earlier because they both knew. “I didn’t think-” Jonathan starts but Geoffrey is quick to agree, knowing what the Ekon intended to say, “I didn’t either. Everything we know says it’s not, but.. There are exceptions to every rule,” he says with a deep fondness as he looks at his Ekon. Jonathan grins with teeth in response before pressing a kiss to Geoffrey’s abdomen; just for a second, Geoffrey let himself wish they could stay in this moment forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Writing this made me realize that I have a lot more that I need to look into with myself (and a therapist honestly omg) than I thought I did LMAO 
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> Feedback is appreciated <3


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